Taylor Hall
| birth_place = Calgary, Alberta, Canada | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 1 | weight_lb = 201 | position = Left wing | shoots = Left | league = NHL | team = New Jersey Devils | former_teams = Edmonton Oilers | ntl_team = CAN | draft = 1st overall | draft_year = 2010 | draft_team = Edmonton Oilers | career_start = 2010 }} Taylor Hall (born Taylor Strba Hall on November 14, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Playing Career Minor Playing Career Taylor started playing minor hockey in Calgary, Alberta, Canada When he was 13 years old, his family moved to Kingston, Ontario where he continued to play. He captured a Bantam AAA Calgary city championship with the North East Canucks during the 2004–05 season. In 2005–06 and 2006–07, Taylor played Bantam and Minor Midget hockey for the Greater Kingston Predators of the ODMHA league. He was named to the ODMHA Midget AAA All-Star team. After the season, Taylor was the second overall choice in the 2007 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection by the Windsor Spitfires. Ryan O'Reilly was selected first overall ahead of him by the Erie Otters. Junior Playing Career Taylor made his OHL debut in 2007–08, scoring a team-high 45 goals and adding 39 assists for 84 points, which was third in team scoring. In March, he was named OHL Player of the Week twice (March 3 and March 10). He was named OHL and CHL Rookie of the Year after the season. During the 2008–09 OHL season, Taylor was selected to represent the OHL in the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge. He scored 38 goals and added 52 assists to finish with 90 points. Windsor had a successful season on the ice, capturing the OHL Championship as well as the Memorial Cup. During the OHL playoffs, Taylor scored 16 goals and added 20 assists while being awarded the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as Playoff MVP. He scored the game winning overtime goal in the fifth and deciding game of the OHL Finals against the Brampton Battalion to clinch the title. At the 2009 Memorial Cup, Taylor recorded eight points in six games, as the Spitfires defeated the Kelowna Rockets 4–1 in the final. After the tournament, he was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as Tournament MVP and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team along with his teammate Ryan Ellis. Though the odds of Taylor playing in Russia were remote, he was drafted 89th overall by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)'s Ak Bars Kazan on June 1, 2009. He was one of three Canadian junior players (all from the OHL) taken in the 2009 KHL Draft, which begins selecting players a year younger than the NHL does. Taylor was an early favourite to be the top pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft since entering the junior ranks. He was praised early in his junior career on Hockey Night in Canada by commentator Don Cherry during his "Coach's Corner" segment. He was also featured in a July 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated, profiling young athletes poised to star in their sports. Taylor finished the 2009–10 OHL season tied for first place in the OHL with Tyler Seguin with 106 points (40 goals and 66 assists) to win the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy alongside Seguin. He was instrumental in the Spitfires' 2010 J. Ross Robertson Cup championship, recording a playoff-leading 35 points in 19 post-season games. His teammate, Adam Henrique won the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, scoring 20 goals. In May 2010, Taylor helped lead the Spitfires to their second-straight Memorial Cup. With the victory, he was awarded his second straight Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP, the first player in its history to repeat as a winner, the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as Memorial Cup scoring leader, and a spot on the tournament All-Star team for the second straight year. Taylor was ranked as the top North American prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (CSB) in its 2009–10 midterm rankings. In the CSB's final rankings, he was overtaken by Tyler Seguin as the top ranked North American prospect. He has cited New York Islanders forward and 2009 NHL Entry Draft first overall pick John Tavares as a role model, both on and off the ice. Professional Playing Career Shortly after being selected first overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Taylor signed his first professional contract. The contract paid him the entry level maximum of $900,000 with the possibility of an additional $2.85 million in performance bonuses becoming the highest rookie contract in Oilers history. Taylor was given permission to wear the jersey number 4 which had belonged to former Oilers' player Kevin Lowe who was then serving as the Oilers' President of Hockey Operations and who had been the only Oiler to wear the number 4 in its NHL history. On October 7, 2010, Taylor made his NHL debut as the Oilers defeated arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place. His first NHL point, an assist, came in his second game, against the Florida Panthers on October 10, 2010; Shawn Horcoff redirected his shot in front of the net. Taylor's first NHL goal came on October 28, 2010 against Steve Mason of the Columbus Blue Jackets and his former coach with the Windsor Spitfires, Bob Boughner. He came in second place to Michael Grabner in the fastest skater in the 2011 NHL All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition. On February 19, 2011, Taylor got his first NHL hat-trick and natural hat-trick against the Atlanta Thrashers. With the Oilers down two goals, he scored three consecutive power play goals in a span of 12:53 as the Oilers prevailed by a score of 5–3. On March 3, 2011, Taylor recorded his first career Gordie Howe hat trick on a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He scored a goal against Steve Mason, assisted on a goal by Jordan Eberle and fought with Derek Dorsett in an eventual 4–2 win. However, the fight with Dorsett ended his rookie season early as Taylor suffered a high ankle sprain at the end of the fight. He finished his rookie season scoring 22 goals and 20 assists in 65 games. Taylor recorded his second career NHL hat-trick in a 9–2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks after going nine games without a goal. On January 17, 2012, Taylor was cut by teammate Corey Potter's skate before a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets during warmup, resulting in a deep cut to his face that required 30 stitches to close. It was announced that Taylor would need major shoulder surgery and needed 5 to 6 months to recover, ending his successful sophomore year. Despite missing 21 games, he was still tied for fifth for power play goals. On August 21, 2012, Taylor signed a seven-year extension with the Oilers worth $42 million, for an average of $6 million a year. On January 26, 2013, he recorded his 100th career point with two assists in a 4–3 loss against the Calgary Flames. On February 22, 2013, he was given a two-game suspension after a collision with the Minnesota Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck. On March 30, 2013, Taylor set a new franchise record by scoring a hat-trick just 7:53 into the game. He finished the 2012–13 season within the top 10 in league scoring, finishing nine, also recording a career high of 34 assists, good enough for eighth in NHL scoring. On October 17, 2013, Taylor broke Wayne Gretzky's previous record of two goals in nine seconds by scoring two in eight. Gretzky congratulated him shortly after. In the 2015-16 season, he had 25 goals and 35 assists (60 points) in 78 games played with the Edmonton Oilers. On June 29, 2016, Taylor was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Adam Larsson. He scored his first goal as a Devil on October 18, 2016 against the Anaheim Ducks. He later scored another goal in the same period to secure a 2-1 win. On November 16, 2016, Taylor underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee. He was expected to miss three to four weeks, but he skated on his own a week after surgery and with the team at practice on November 28, 2016. Taylor was named to the Metropolitan Division team as the lone representative of the New Jersey Devils at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game. Career Statistics Regular season and playoffs International International Play }} Taylor represented Canada at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships in Kazan, Russia, as one of five 16-year-olds. He was fifth in tournament scoring, with nine points in seven games, helping Canada to a gold medal. He returned to Canada's under-18 team to earn a second gold medal at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Slovakia as an alternate captain to Matt Duchene. Taylor made Canada's national junior team for the 2010 World Junior Championships in Saskatchewan. He was the lone draft-eligible player selected to the final roster. He scored a hat-trick against Slovakia in a game Canada ended up winning 8–2. After the championships, Taylor finished tied for third overall in scoring with his Canadian teammate Alex Pietrangelo along with American Jerry D'Amigo. He ended up with six goals and six assists (12 points) in six games. Taylor was invited to Hockey Canada's summer evaluation camp for the 2011 World Junior Tournament, but declined to participate, choosing instead to focus on making the Oilers' roster for the upcoming season. According to Hockey Canada policy, he would have been ineligible to participate in the tournament even if he was available. At the 2015 World Championships (where Canada won the gold medal for the first time since 2007) with a perfect 10-0 record, Taylor was named a member of the All-Star team. Accolades Personal Life Taylor's parents are Steve Hall and Kim Strba. His father, Steve was a former Canadian Football League (CFL) player for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts and the Ottawa Rough Riders in the mid-1980s after which he was a member of the Canadian national bobsleigh team. Taylor's mother introduced him to organized hockey at the age of five while his father maintained a backyard rink every winter which he and his friends practiced on relentlessly. In 2005, Taylor's family moved to Kingston, Ontario, Canada where he attended high school at Frontenac Secondary School. Category:1991 births Category:Canadian ice hockey left wingers Category:Edmonton Oilers draft picks Category:Edmonton Oilers players Category:Ice hockey personnel from Alberta Category:Ice hockey personnel from Ontario Category:Memorial Cup winners Category:National Hockey League first overall draft picks Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks Category:Windsor Spitfires alumni Category:Canadian ice hockey players Category:New Jersey Devils players